Tuesday, 26 September 2017

Welcome to my blog and I thought I'd start the Finish-a-long tutorial week with a very quick seasonal make.

A tiny pumpkin pin cushion or two...

Please read through all the instructions before you start.

You will need:

Pumpkin coloured fabric - I used quilting cotton but any similar weight of fabric would do if it doesn't fray too much.

A round shape to trace around - I used a roll of tape for the larger sized pumpkin and a jam pot lid for the small one. The size of your circle will determine the size of the piece of fabric required.

A pencil to draw with or marker or your choice

Stuffing - I used some kapok I've had for years but polyester toy stuffing is a good alternative

Matching thread and needle

Small scraps of green and brown felt

Green and brown cotton perle

Step one: Draw circle on pumpkin fabric

Step two: Cut out your circle with a rough quarter inch allowance. Thread your needle with a long thread, doubled over, placing the cut ends in your needle. Do a running stitch around the outside of your marked circle. Thread your needle through the loop at the beginning.

Step four: Once you start the shaping you can begin stuffing. When sufficiently stuffed to hold a good rounded but still squishy shape pull the gather threads tight and tie - but do not cut your threads yet.

Step five : Cut a leaf shape from green felt and make a running stitch in green cotton perle around the edge and also mark the veins. It doesn't need to be that precise. Cut a square of brown felt about 2 1/2 inches for the stem.

Step six: Tightly roll the brown felt and stitch along the length with a running stitch in brown cotton perle to hold the roll together. You only need to stitch through the top layer and into the one below.

Keep your cotton perle attached as this will be used to attach the stem to the pumpkin. Make sure you have a good length of thread as in the photo.

Step seven: Use the pencil to open up a hole in the top of your pumpkin. Place your stem in the hole, thread end downwards in the hole. If necessary help that stem make its way through the stuffing using the pencil or similar.

Rethread your needle with the brown cotton perle attached to the stem. Now make a stitch through the top of the pumpkin and out through the base. This attaches the stem to the pumpkin and adds a dimpled bottom to your pumpkin.

Make a stitch back up through the centre of the pumpkin and into the base of the stem. Repeat several times until the stem is secured. See photo below for dimpled base. Finish off your cotton perle thread.

Use gather thread to neaten up the top of pumpkin and stitch to stem.

Attach leaf with a few stitches covering any untidiness around the stem. Finish off thread.

All done - it's that quick and easy but if you have any questions - just ask....

I will be using mine as tiny pincushions or maybe just autumnal decoration....what about you?

Instructions on making the toadstools can be found on Instagram using the hashtag/link: #toadstooltute (Hmm maybe I should write that one up on my blog too)

Monday, 25 September 2017

It might be hard to believe but we have made it to the end of the third quarter of the 2017 FAL and it's time to link up your Q3 finishes! The 2017 FAL has a community of bloggers across the world jointly hosting the FAL. Our hosts are:

The 2017 Q3 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on each blog.Link-up "rules":

Add one link for each finish. If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately. Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws.

Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter). Feel free to and tag your photos #2017FALQ3yourname (substitute your name), this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your lists.

Please become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others and comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other. The 2017 FAL Facebook page is here and follow us on Instagram @finishalong.

Our hosts will also link their finishes to share in the community, but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q3 Finishes link will stay open from now thru September 30 at 11 pm EST - link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out. The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings. We will post the winners on each hosts' blog.

And don't forget to start making your Q4 lists as the Q4 list link opens on October 1.

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Today is the day we are privileged to announce the winners for Q1 and Q2 of
the 2017 Finish-Along.

If you are low on inspiration or maybe your sewing mojo has been missing lately, we highly recommend you visit some of the finishes from the first half of the year. There are a lot of beauties linked up and ready to inspire you!

Thank you again to our generous sponsors. Without further ado, the winners - each picked by the random number generator - of the Q1 and Q2 FAL prizes are:RANDOM.ORG - True Random Number Service
www.random.org
RANDOM.ORG offers true random numbers to anyone on the Internet. The randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random ...

The Q1 Winner of the 2 PDF patterns from Just Jude Designs goes to Laura who blogs at Scraps of Life for finishing this beautiful quilt:International Bubbles
lauravscraps.blogspot.ca
Another finish for this quarter! Here is my International Bubbles Quilt! These blocks were created by ladies all ...
Shop - Just Jude Designs - Quilting, Patchwork & Sewing ...
justjude-designs.com
creating modern quilting patterns you will love to sew. Shop. Fabric

The Q2 Winner of the 2 PDF patterns from Just Jude Designs goes to Vicki who blogs at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting and made this lovely quilt:Vicki's Crafts and Quilting: My tenth H2H finish!
knitbug2.blogspot.com
I am so happy to report this is my tenth finish of a H2H quilt!! Sarah gave me the inspiration to get busy and finish up a bunch of quilts I had started, thanks Sarah ...
Shop - Just Jude Designs - Quilting, Patchwork & Sewing ...
justjude-designs.com
creating modern quilting patterns you will love to sew. Shop. Fabric

The Q2 Winner of a $25 gift certificate from Studio 39 Fabrics goes to Brown Paws Quilting who made this great quilt and honestly you should look it up because the back is just as fantastic as the front:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the sponsors!! I hope you are having a successful Q3, be prepared to start linking up those finishes starting September 24, 2017.